Lubricator



AIO

UNiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GILMAN W.`BROWN, OF WEST NEWEURY, MASSACHUSETTS.

LUBRICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 382,752, dated May 15, 1888.

Applicntionflled December 19, 1887. Serial No. 258,32. (No model.) I

.T0 @ZZ whom if; may concern.:

'Be it known that I,G1LMAN W. BROWN, of West Newbury, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lubricators,

-of-which the following is a specification.

This invention has Vfor its object to provide a lubricator for bearings 4of shafting, Sto., in which the iiow of oil shall be regulated by the temperature of the bearing, so that agivenincrease in the temperature of the bearing will cause an increased flow of oil from the lubricator, while a corresponding decrease in the temperature will check or decrease the iiow.

To this end the invention consists in alubricator having aldischargeoriiice and a thermostatic or compouudbar controlling the flow of oil, and arranged to be so affected by the temperature of the bearing with which .the lubricator is used as to be moved and permit an increased discharge of oil when the temperatureof the bearing is raised above a given point, and to be closed and check or decrease the flow of oil when the temperature of the v bearing is 'sufficiently reduced, as I will now proceed to describe.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure l represents a vertical section of a lubricator embodying my invention.l Fig. 2 represents aside elevation of the shank of an oil-cup similar to that shown in Fig'. 1, but provided with stop devices. Fig. 3 represents a section on line z s, Fig. 2.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, a represents au oil cup or receptacle, and b represents a bearing with which said cup may be connected in any suitable wayas, for example, by a shank, a, formed on the cup and screwed into a threaded aperture in the bearing, as shown in Fig. 1, said shank having avconduit through which oil passes from the cup to the bearing.

The body of the cup is preferably made of glass and provided with a threaded stem, which is screwed into a socket in the shank, a packing, c, of cork or other suitable material, being placed between the stern and the bottom of the socket.

In carrying out my invention I provide at any suitable point between the oil-reservoir and the bearing'a thermostatic bar, d', composed of layers or laminae of different metals,

each rlayer having a different rate of expansion t and contraction from that of the other,fsaid bar being constructed and arranged to open the conduit and permit the fiow of oil to the bearing when the .temperature of the bearing is increased by friction beyond a given degree, and to close the conduit when the temperature is reduced by lubrication. The arrangement of said bar may be variously A modified. In Figs. .l and 2 Ihave shown it composed of two metals of different expansibility, as steel and the shank a', While the free end is secured to a valve, d; or, if preferred, the free end of the bar may constitutethe valve.

The valve bears on the delivering end of the oil-conduit, and is separated from said delivering end by the lexure of the thermostat-.ic arm whenever the temperature of the bearing is sufficiently increased to expand the metals of said arm. A

The delivering end of the oil-conduit is here shown as a tubular screw, j', inserted in a threaded socket in the shank a', and passing through the portion of the conduit which is formed in `said shank. rIhe screw has lateral openings through which the oil passes into the bore of the screw. The screw may be adjusted to compensate for any variations in the normal position of the thermostatic arm d,and insure proper contact of the valve with its seat when said arm is not bent from its normal position.

I prefer to form a transverseslot or sightaperture, z', in the shank a', said slot -being of sufficient size to expose the valve d and the delivering end of the screw f, so that the feed of oil will be visible. 1 i

In practice itis desirable to have a constant opening through the valve to maintain at all times a normal feed of oil, the operation of the thermo-dynamic devices being intended mainly to insure an increased iiow o f oil when from any cause the normal feed is not sufficient to prevent heating. When the shaft is not runsupport in close proximity to the bearing, as i ggf,

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ning, the screw f may be turned so as to cause l its valve opening or closing position without the necessity of careful adjustment by the attendant, I provide it with two arms, u u, and attach to the shank a a stop-pin, o, located between said arms, so that when the screw is turned in one direction the arm u will strike said stop and arrest the motion of the screw when the latter is in its valve-opening position, and when the screw is turned in the opposite direction the arm u will strike said stop and arrest the screw in its valve-closing position. The operator is therefore relieved of all care in adjusting the screw, as will be readily seen.

I prefer to make the arms u u adjustable on the screwf, so that the positions of the screw when 4Vit is arrested may be adjusted. To this end I make said arms in independent pieces, which are clamped by a screw, w, against a shoulder, x, on the screwf. By looseningsaid clamping-screw the arms may be adj usted' to any desired position.

I do not limit myself to the use of the irnprovement last described in connection with a thermo-dynamic valve; but may use the same with any suitably'constructed valve.

I claiml. An oil cup or receptacle having a thermostatic or compound arm or bar regulating the discharge of oil therefrom and adapted to be operated by variations of temperature of the bearing to which the oil-cup is applied,as

ranged to be operated by variations of temperature of the bearing, as set forth.

3. An oil cup or receptacle having a neck or shank provided with an oil-conduit combined with a valve, and a thermostatic arm or y posed in part of an adj ustable tubular screw and a sight-aperture into which said screw projects, combined with the valve arranged to act on the delivering end of said conduit, and the thermostatic bar supporting said valve, as set forth.

6. An oil cup or receptacle provided with an oil-conduit composed in part of an adjustable screw, combined with a valve at the delivering end of the screw, and stop devices, substantially as described, whereby the rotation of the screw may be arrested both in the valve-opening and valve closing positions of said screw, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 15th day of December,

GILMAN W. BROWN. Witnesses:

G. F. BROWN,

A. D. HARRISON. 

